


He Said...She Said

by lori_yuy



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Complicated Relationships, F/M, Friendship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27277642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy
Summary: Little moments between Tseng and Aerith while Zack was still around.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Tseng, Aerith Gainsborough/Tseng, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	He Said...She Said

**Author's Note:**

> This was a quick write piece based on my idea that Aerith shared a lot of her thoughts with Tseng regarding Zack and they keep it between themselves like siblings do. Sorry the perspectives are a little messy since it was quick work.
> 
> Been editted a few times with parts I should have written in first time.

Warm breeze blew in from the hole atop the ceiling, natural sunlight beamed down at the wild patch of flowers below. Aerith knelt in the midst of it, eyes closed and smiling to herself. Behind her, the door of the church opened and closed quietly before the sound of footsteps approached her and stopped short of where she knelt.

"I'm not going today either." She said faintly to the man behind her. There was no reply, instead she felt his warmth as he sat down next to her on the dusty floor of the old church.

"I went on a date yesterday." Aerith chimed after a few minutes.

"I know." Came the curt reply.

"You always know."

An amicable silence enveloped the atmosphere before she decided to speak again. "Do you know him?" Aerith opened her eyes and gazed into his brown ones.

"Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class."

"And what do you think of him?"

"He's optimistic to the extreme, overly energetic, and acts before he thinks."

Her lips quirked up at the brutally honest evaluation. "You forgot cheesy." She quipped as she shifted to sit behind him and began parting his long hair into thirds. "Do you know what he did?"

"Hm?" He relaxed as her hands worked deftly over his long dark strands, creating a braid not too unlike hers.

"He stared me straight in the eyes and said 'TAKE A GOOD LOOK' after I told him his mako eyes were pretty. Shameless flirting after he fell through the rooftop of the church onto my flower bed and then asked me for a date. Can you believe that?" Her voice carried her amusement.

"Zack's not a bad guy." Tseng said as he shifted himself so she could get to the rest of his hair.

"I can't imagine most guys doing that."

"What?"

"Flirt the way he does." Aerith replied as she tied the end of the finished braid and admired her handiwork.

"I'm sure there are others like him."

"You try it." Tseng balked at Aerith as she plastered a smile onto her innocent-looking face. "Try it! I want to see."

Tseng sighed softly, sat up straighter, and looked Aerith in the eyes. She gave him the utmost attention, holding his gaze.

"Wow Tseng, your eyes are so pretty."  
"Well...take a good ...look." He mumbled quickly before tearing his gaze away.

"Not like that. Hold my gaze still while you say it and say it with more confidence. Once more. Oh Tseng! Your eyes are SO pretty."

"Take a GOOD LOOK." He held his gaze this time, neither of them blinking as it slowly became a staring contest. Tseng broke first, falling onto the floor in laughter as a blush bloomed across his cheeks. "This is so embarrassing."

Aerith fell on top of him giggling soon after. "ISN'T IT? I don't know how he could flirt like that with a straight face."

"And yet..." He picked himself up from the floor. "you're giving him a chance." He smiled at her as she was now blushing. How did Tseng always know what she was thinking? He's already onto her that she was going to date Zack and it was only the day after her first date.

"If you know that much already, could you let me be a teenager and not follow me around on my dates?"

"No promises."

~...~

"Your boyfriend's been flirting with Cissnei." Aerith was putting in her finishing touches to the flower crown in her hand and placed it on top of his head.

"And? What did you do about it?"

"I reminded him he was still in the middle of a mission. Cissnei laughed at me and left Zack hanging."

"I guess Cissnei's not as easy to charm as me. And of course she'd laugh at you, you're so stiff and even worse with your hair cut short and tied up like that."

He flipped her an indignant look that Aerith ignored.

"He's been asking me about you." Aerith started as she adjusted the floral arrangement in his hair.

"What was he asking?"

"What you are to me."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him nothing."

He hummed to himself as he processed Aerith's reply.

The SOLDIER headed off towards the door of the Sector 5 Church when Tseng came out of nowhere behind him.

"Zack, you're needed in Modeoheim."

"I know, just give me a minute."

"Aerith isn't there."

Zack turned around at the comment and narrowed his eyes. It's apparent that Aerith and Tseng were at least familiar with each other, but Aerith had changed the subject anytime he tried to pry into it. Perhaps he should change his tactics and ask Tseng instead. "....what is your relationship to Aerith?"

"Did she not tell you?"

"Nope. Not a thing."

Tseng almost huffed out a laughter but held back. So Aerith really didn't tell Zack anything. "Then I won't tell you either." It was a little game they played amongst themselves at poor Zack's expense. Aerith wanted to see what Zack's mind came up with.

"Whatever.....WHATEVER." Zack practically yelled over the sound of the incoming helicopter's whirring blades.

~...~

"He told me I could sell them. Midgar full of flowers, my pockets full of money." She rambled on as she clipped another blossom and dropped it into the basket hanging around his arm.

"And what about the flowers' feelings?" Tseng asked uncharacteristically, glancing at each of the flowers taken from its source of life.

"The flowers will make people happier, they told me it was okay, the flowers will keep blooming. Besides, mom could use the money."

Tseng glanced over towards the door at the shadow of Elmyra through the glass doors, keeping an eye on him.

"He promised to make me a flower wagon, but he's been procrastinating." Aerith chirped as she latched her arms into his. "Alright, targeting business people in sector 8?" He nodded before leading her to the train station.

~...~

After the flower wagon was finally completed and her first sales near the playground with Zack, Zack came up to him behind the slide. That was when Zack made him promise to take care of Aerith if anything were to happen to him. Tseng chuckled at Zack's indestructible ability to trust and perhaps his naivety.

"Don't worry about Aerith. Protecting her is part of surveillance duty."

"I'm counting on you."

~...~

Aerith was in the church once again. "That flower wagon was too small and not very good....also he was a bad salesman." 

This was the second time he got a good laugh today. "Aren't you being too harsh on him?"

"A woman can have her expectation bar set high."

"Hm....don't give him such a hard time. He really cares about you."

"You were burnt." She said all of a sudden. He glanced over at her with surprise as that was months ago. He forgot that she had something of a sixth sense.

"It wasn't bad."

"Zack left you for dead."

"It wasn't like that."

"Yes it was."

"Aerith."

She rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Let me criticize him when he deserves it okay?"

"He owed me nothing, he did what he could and that's all that I would ask." Tseng replied before turning. Aerith caught his arm. "Promise me you'll help Zack if he is ever in trouble. And that you'll be around for me still if he's gone."

Tseng contemplated in place. The things that Zack and Aerith were saying were eerily similar.

"I....don't have the final say on that, so I cannot keep that promise." He kept his eyes trained on the patch of flowers blooming on under the church's floor boards before him.

_I'll help Zack as much as I can but I cannot promise I'll protect you when I have to bring you back to Shinra one day. Until that day, I will keep you as safe as possible._


End file.
